


Shadow of a Doubt

by Winterbornbree



Category: Medabots
Genre: A bit of a dark story, Action/Adventure, Gen, Suspense
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-05-09
Updated: 2018-08-10
Packaged: 2018-10-29 20:29:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 16,878
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10861509
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Winterbornbree/pseuds/Winterbornbree
Summary: After the events of the World Tournament, and elusive terrorist organization rears its head with one goal in mind: to bring the world to its knees; and they finally have the means to do it.





	1. Beginnings

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey there, this fic was my first story that I posted on Fanfiction.net back in 2012. I did some minor editing, so I hope it looks good and reminiscent of the classic episodes!
> 
> Comments are very much welcome!
> 
> Disclaimer: I don't own Medabots in any way shape or form. That being said, I'd rather not get sued.

The lone figure standing at a distance watched the two kids duel their Medabots against each other fiercely.

He tipped his cap downwards. Anyone passing him would've considered him a shady character with his rather strange behavior. However, they didn't bother him as he didn't appear to be doing anything wrong.

He watched as one of the Medabots, a beetle type, took down the other with practiced ease. The opponent surrendered before anymore damage could be inflicted. What a wimp.

The boy, who was somewhat stocky, searched for the ejected medal on the dusty ground. The victor seemed a little arrogant when talking to the other boy before a girl and her Medabot joined them.

The man pulled out his cellphone and punched in several numbers before holding it over his ear. "Isis. I got the target in my sights. Proceed with the plan?"

He frowned when she answered. "No! Are you crazy, Ex? You're not taking him in broad daylight!"

He sighed, "what do you take me for, Isis? A rookie? Don't make fun of me. Now, should I do this or not?"

Ex heard her exhale on the phone, "very well - proceed."

Once Ex ended the call, he glanced towards the spot and saw that the kids had disappeared.

He looked around wildly until he saw the last of the group walk over a bridge into the city. He followed them casually, making sure he paused to look through windows of various stores. Ex saw them head into a little store and start a conversation with a young man at the cash register.

* * *

"C'mon, Ginkai! Pay it up! You lost!" Ikki crowed.

Ginkai scowled. "Fine! You don't need to remind me for tenth time!"

"Aw, come on, I didn't bug ya that much." Ikki replied.

"Actually you did - I was keeping count." Arc-Dash grumbled and folded his arms, still miffed that he lost. All that trash talk sure went out the window.

"Okay, okay, but it doesn't change the fact that you still owe me." Ikki smirked while they both groaned.

"One butterscotch pudding comin' right up." Henry suddenly appeared with the said item in hand. After serving drinks to Erika and Ginkai, he asked, "so, did anything interesting happen today?"

Ginkai could be seen in tears shaking his empty wallet in the distance.

"Eh, the usual," Ikki answered breezily.

"And something tells me you're the victim?" Henry chuckled and looked at Ginkai.

"Hmph."

"Something tells me that either Ikki's getting stronger or Ginkai's just getting plain weak," Erika teased.

"One of these days I'll win!" The boy protested, scowling at her.

"Keep telling yourself that," Ikki remarked as he put his hands behind his head lazily.

"Ikki, you might want to tone the confidence down a little," Henry cautioned. "Or do we need to have another talk?"

Ikki frowned, "come again?"

"You and Metabee make a great team, sure, and plenty of confidence is great, but too much of it is bad. You need to find a happy medium, like, um, Space Medafighter X!" Henry looked suspiciously too proud.

"Yeeeaaahhh, I'll remember it the next time we robattle," Ikki quipped.

Henry, Erika, and Ginkai all facepalmed. "Did you even get the point of that, Ikki?" Erika asked wearily, rubbing her temples.

"Of course I did! I'm not stupid!" Ikki snapped defensively. "Besides, Space Medafighter X is old news. We haven't heard from him in a year or two."

"Or the Phantom Renegade - because ya know those two are the same," Metabee poked his head around an aisle.

Erika leaned over the counter, "...are you okay, Henry?"

Henry was rocking back and forth with a traumatized expression, "... _Old news?..._ "

Disturbed, Erika slowly leaned back, "...I'll just leave you alone."

Metabee shrugged and went back to looking at a magazine he'd been reading.

Ikki's eyes casually scanned the store, his eyes coming to rest on the newly stocked shelf of Medaparts by the window. He suddenly caught movement in his peripheral vision; he focused closer and caught a figure of a man just... standing there. Maybe he was window shopping, Ikki assumed.

But, it seemed he wasn't really focused on the new parts. In fact, it almost seemed like...

"Hey, Ikki, come on! We've got to go home!" Erika called.

"Huh? Oh yeah, I'm coming. See ya, Henry!" Ikki dashed out of the store with his friends and started up the road back to their homes, failing to notice someone following them.

* * *

Ex ducked into an ally when the little group came out of the building. When he heard footsteps receding from his spot, he quickly looked around before pursuing them, being careful not to lose them in the overwhelming crowd.

After a few minutes of jostling and slight pushing, Ex approached a quieter neighborhood and heard lively chatter from the kids and their 'Bots. He carefully turned a corner and saw Ikki and Metabee separate from their companions. After they left, Ex walked up to Ikki's house and looked up at the light spilling through the curtains of the home.

"A lot less complicated now that I know where he lives, but the problem would be his Medabot - he needs to go," Ex murmured.

He quickly ruled out a few things he could do, knowing that it could hurt the boy - he needed him alive and unharmed. Ex suddenly clenched his fist as an idea came to him, but it would require a couple of things.

With the dusk approaching rapidly, Ex turned on his heel and started retracing his steps, all the while pulling out his cell phone, "Isis, I'm returning to base, got an update about this mission."

_"Alright, just give me a few details now."_

"I know where the boy lives. The only problem would be his Medabot. It would definitely blow me away if I tried anything."

_"It's rather obivious, Ex. Keep following them and learn their patterns. Try springing a trap when they least expect it, or, to put it simply, go after the Medabot first and try to access his medal. No medal-"_

"No Medabot. I'm quite familiar with how Medabots work!" Ex impatiently snapped.

 _"No need to yell, I'm not deaf,"_ Isis stated calmly.

"I'm on my way to base."

_"Just make sure you fill out a report when you get back."_

"You don't need to nag me, Isis."

 _"You think I_ like _nagging? The last few times you 'forgot' to submit a few reports of your mission, you got into trouble and I had to rescue you,"_ Isis responded irritably.

"Whatever... Look, I only called so you can get an update on the mission, not for me to get lectured like a little kid!"

 _"Well, if you stop being a remarkable idiot like usual, then we wouldn't be having this conversation, now would we?"_ Isis replied coolly.

"Hmph. As I said, I'm on my way back. I'll give you full details when I come." Without waiting for a reply, Ex sharply ended the call and continued walking.

He noticed the twilight color of the sky and quickened his pace; there was nothing he hated more than walking in the dark. He remembered getting lost and it took him several hours till he'd gotten back to base. He was still expected to do his job the following day.

Speaking of jobs, Ex reflected back on his orders. _'Why are we after a kid? I would understand if it were a prime minister or something, but a twelve-year-old? What could he possibly have that Boss wants so badly?'_

Ex knew something was special if his orders were to 'escort' Ikki by all means necessary to the base, but what did he know? He was just a mid-ranking field agent. He couldn't care less what would happen to the kid; he was just another job to complete after all.

After walking a few miles, Ex was stepping through a barely used trail that was overgrown with weeds. He reached some abandoned ruins, the one he knew the infamous (and ridiculous) Rubberrobo Gang possessed once. He lightly slid his hands along the rough wall, muttering under his breath when it took more than several minutes to reach the hidden switch. He never could tell the difference between the wall and the switch's location.

Ex finally found the pressure tile and pushed it, watching as the floor suddenly gave way to a staircase instead of the stupid slide thankfully. When it finished shifting, Ex deemed it safe and started descending the stone steps.

He reached a bare hallway and walked to his room, intent on finally finishing those neglected reports. "I have to submit a report for everything," Ex complained quietly.

He stood in front of the door that led to his room and entered the password, waiting for a second or two for the door to open. "What do we even do with those things anyway?"

The man tiredly hung his hat and cloak and made his way towards his rack. However, just when he was finally getting comfortable, his phone chose that moment to ring _very_ loudly.

"Oh come on! Can't a guy get a little sleep around here?" Ex growled as he stumbled towards his cloak, he looked at the caller I.D.

"Oh no..." He groaned and flipped the screen up.

 _"Ex, where are you? I've been waiting for a long time.The least you could have done was let me know you weren't going to bother coming at all! I wasted all that time I could have spent doing something constructive,"_ Isis barked angrily.

"Chill, Isis, I was held up. Besides, you can't wait two hours?"

 _"You were sleeping again, weren't you?"_ She asked, unimpressed.

"...I was about to."

_"For the love of-! Just get down here before I come up there!"_

"Okay - fine - I'll be there in a minute." Ex ended the call, sighed, and threw on a white lab coat. He might as well see what Isis wanted or he'll never hear the end of it. Or see the light of day for about a week. He had to find a way to block her number...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes, bad ending, I know, but I couldn't find anywhere else to end it. I know this didn't have very much of Ikki and co., but you'll see them more in the next chapter.
> 
> -Winterbornbree


	2. Why Me?

"Y'know, I'm gonna need a few things."

The young, blonde woman with blue eyes became startled and almost dropped the piece of tech she was carrying. She managed to straighten herself and shot Ex a glare, "what you need is a bell. Quit sneaking up on me - you know I'll give you a sore jaw."

"It's nothin' much: just a couple of rags and some of that chemical fume...I can't remember what it's called." Ex murmured, rubbing his jaw.

"Chloroform?" Isis supplied.

"Yeah, chloroform. Glad I remembered," Ex grinned. Isis sighed in annoyance and decided to let it go.

"Did you finally come up with even a remotely good idea?" Isis found a shelf to put the machinery on and glanced at Ex expectantly.

"Isis, you underestimate me; it's better than all the other idea's I came up with and it's easier. However, a crowbar works fine too." Isis gave him a strange look at this statement but said nothing.

"The things you need are in the supply closet, Ex, you know that... How are you going to capture him in the right environment?" Isis inquired.

"I...didn't go that far yet. Guess I'll have to improvise," Ex stated simply.

"Don't take unnecessary risks, Ex, there's the possibility of you going to jail," Isis warned. "You can get the death penalty at worst."

"Cops got nothin' on me," he scoffed.

The woman sighed, "whatever, Ex." Then deciding to change the subject, she asked, "what do you think about the boy, Ikki Tenryou?"

"I don't know, he doesn't look like the 'type', if you know what I mean." Ex expression had turned thoughtful, "he may have been strong a couple of years back, but he's just a goofball now. I suppose that's normal for a kid, though."

 _'I should assume that you forgot appearances can be deceiving, Ex?'_   Isis thought wryly. She looked up at him, "what about his Medabot?"

Ex groaned, "are we rehashing this again?"

"I'm asking your opinion."

"Since when do you even value my opinion? Whatever, here goes... I'll probably target the 'Bot first - it'll save me a headache in retrieving Ikki," the young man said. "But if you _want_ _my opinion_ , that 'Bot is tougher than he looks and probably won't give up without a fight. He'll riddle me with bullets if I so much as look at Ikki the wrong way. He's gotten a lot more protective of the kid these last few years."

"It probably doesn't help when they get targeted by 'bad guys,'" Isis quipped

"Does that make us bad guys?"

"I prefer to think of us as 'revolutionaries.'"

"Whatever you say, Isis."

Isis nodded and stood up, starting to walk out the room. "Hey, where are you going?" Ex asked.

"My team and I need to work on that special Medal: it's not quite finished and needs some more tests before it's completed. I suggest you get some rest - you're going to need it."

"I think I might take you up on that offer. Thanks, Isis!"

"You're probably not going to be thanking me if I said you'll be running on three hours of sleep for a while," Isis replied with a small smirk.

"You're kidding me, right?" Ex asked with no small amount of disbelief plastered on his face.

"Nope, I'm telling the truth. All of us have to work with little sleep and a not-so-healthy amount of coffee." She turned around, "anyway, I'd stay and chat a little more but I have to go." Isis dismissively walked out of the room, leaving Ex behind.

"That little-!"

* * *

 

The sun shone brightly the next morning as Ikki and Metabee tromped through weeds on an abandoned path, stopping every once in a while to unsnag Ikki's t-shirt from the plants along the path.

"Hey, Ikki?"

"Yeah?"

"Why are we going down this path? I'm getting sticks in my joints!" Metabee complain, irritation building up as he tried to avoid any questionable patches.

"I told Koji I'd meet him here," Ikki replied.

"To robattle? Why not choose the park?"

Ikki made a face, "Apparently, he wanted a private robattle so no one would be _'overwhelmed by his awesomeness.'_ " He made air quotes as he replied.

"And?" Metabee pressed.

"I only agreed so I can say _'I kicked his butt big time!'_ Who wouldn't want to put that jerk in his place?"

_"And?"_

"...And win Karen's affection," Ikki replied, saying the last part with great hesitance.

Metabee sighed, "you do realize I'm the one doing the work, right? So why should I go through this just so you can steal the credit?"

"I will be ignoring you now."

"Still, why the heck should we go marching around this dump just to win a stupid robatt-!"

Ikki heard the loud sound of clanging metal and a shout but assumed the robot had simply fallen.

The forest suddenly went silent as Ikki kept going. It took a few moments before it registered that he was alone and the boy stopped and looked around. "Hey, Metabee? Metabee? Come on, this ain't funny! If this the best prank you can pull, then you're slipping."

Ikki's ears caught the small sound of something dragging against the leaves, "Metabee, you knucklehead, come out before I get my hands on you!"

When no answer came, the boy started to get aggravated and walked a few steps forward, "fine, if you're going to have an attitude, then I'm leaving you behind!"

Metabee didn't jump out of the bushes to call Ikki's bluff, instead he heard something give a small groan and what sounded like deactivation. It was dead silent after that. His blood began to run cold. Metabee wouldn't go this far to creep him out, would he? That just wasn't his style.

"Alright, o-one last chance, Metabee! Don't make me come over there!"

The crunching of leaves immediately sent him sprinting towards the exit. A part of him felt guilty for leaving his friend behind like a coward, but the other part was telling him to run from whatever it was lurking in the surrounding woods.

His instincts told him it was _not_ Metabee.

He heard light footsteps and began to run faster. He felt his heart pounding painfully against his sternum and his lungs were burning like they were on fire. However, Ikki was actually making good progress when he tripped over a root of a tree and was sent tumbling onto the ground.

Ikki cursed in Japanese and quickly tried to scramble to his feet.

Unfortunately, a rough hand gripped his arm and yanked him to his feet, covering his mouth and preventing him from screaming. Ikki started throwing his fists around and kicked wildly, hoping to reach their target. All the fist-fighting he and Metabee did must have done some good! He even tried biting the hand but that didn't seem to work - all he got was a taste of a leather glove.

"Nice try, kid. But that's not going to work, say goodnight..."

Ikki felt a white rag with this weird smell pressed to his face. After a few seconds, he started to lose consciousness. Seeing his vision doubling and feeling an overwhelming urge to pass out told Ikki he was in bigger trouble than he thought. His body was getting increasingly sluggish.

He just knew wherever he was going, he was going to die.

Ikki twisted around to look his would-be murderer in the eyes, but his doubled vision wasn't helping very much. All he saw was that X shaped scar on the top half of his his captor's face.

'Why does this always happened to me?' That was his last thought before giving in to the darkness eating away at his vision.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fun fact: chloroform doesn't actually take effect right away. Someone would have to be pressing it to your face for five minutes for you to pass out. 
> 
> When I wrote this chapter years ago, I, of course, didn't study the effects and workings of this chemical. I just went by what movies have taught me (and I have since learned from that mistake).
> 
> If you could leave a comment down below, I'd greatly appreciate it! :)
> 
> -Winterbornbree


	3. Rude Awakening

The sound of computers humming and the range of quiet voices filled Ikki's ears. He felt some surprise to see that he was, indeed, still alive. 

Ikki cautiously opened his eyes. Overwhelmingly bright lights nearly blinded him and he had to blink rapidly to ease the glare. As he got used to it, he saw men and women scurrying around hurriedly around some laboratory; not one of them seemed to have noticed him.

Ikki tried to take advantage of this and scoot away, but something immediately stopped him from moving. He looked behind him and pushed down a sigh; his hands was tied behind him with a rough piece of rope against a thick pipe attached to the wall. _'Oh, great...'_ Ikki huffed.

He frowned and tried to fidget, attempting to loosen his hands from his bonds. However, he ended up rubbing them nearly raw instead. After several failed attempts, a woman suddenly showed up with a clipboard in hand.

"Well, you're finally awake. That's good," she stated, catching the attention of some people around her. She quickly scribbled in some notes. Whatever they were for, Ikki didn't know nor care. The scientists and engineers glanced at him for a moment before continuing their work. There would be time for questions later.

Ikki scowled at the woman, "hey, lady, what's the big idea? Who are you? What do you want with me?"

The woman kept her composure through Ikki's barrage of questions. "My name is Isis. I'm the head of the technology department here. That's the only thing you're allowed to know."

"Well, that's not very fair," Ikki mumbled. Isis merely made a 'hmm' noise and looked at her clipboard again. "You seem to be healthy and in good shape, but I think a physician might have more authority than I do..."

"I think I deserve some answers because I swear I remember something about kidnapping being against the law!" Ikki growled, frustrated with this turn of events. "What are you guys gonna do? Kill me?"

Isis looked him straight in the eye. "You're needed for an important job. You probably wouldn't agree with the way we're doing it, so we had to transport you in rather distasteful fashion," she explained, starting to untie the rope binding Ikki.

The boy raised his brow, " _transport?_ " Ikki's voice cracked slightly. "What do you think I am? Cargo?"

Isis gave a sharp tug to the rope and it slid off Ikki's wrists. She rose up from her crouch and watched as Ikki rubbed the sore areas on his wrists, "I apologize for the sudden shock we gave you, but I hope you'll come to understand why we need you."

Ikki slowly stood up, his legs tingling with pain from sitting down too long. "I might consider your apology if you let me go."

"...Just come with me; you need to be examined so we can see if you're a good fit." Isis beckoned to one of the guards stationed near the doorway of the room.

He was a big, gruff man with a no-nonsense look. He gripped Ikki's shoulder rather tightly and the boy squirmed under the firm hold. "Hey, ease up already!" ...Ikki was starting to realize that his demand to be free was falling on deaf ears.

Ikki ground his teeth in anger and let the guard steer him. He could make up a way to get out of there. He was Ikki Tenryou - he never gave up! He wondered about his Medawatch and vaguely remembered that he had a tracker setting in his watch that he almost never used.

If he could tweak the settings a little, he could activate the tracker, send his coordinates to Metabee's CPU, and his friend could bust him out of there! It was probably a little desperate and risky, but Ikki wasn't going to wait for a new chance to pop up. He could always fix the little flaws later.

* * *

 

The world was a blurry mess as Metabee recalibrated his optics, rebooted his systems, and onlined his programming.

His vision finally cleared and he sat up slowly, holding his head in his hands, "ow, my achin' tinpet... Hey, Ikki, is Ms. Nae still doing that repair discount? Sumilidon did more damage to me than I thought... Ikki?" The robot looked up when he didn't receive an answer and was surprised when he saw the afternoon sky starting to fade into a light orange and blue. It would be sunset in a few hours.

Just _how long_ was he knocked out?

"Where am I? This place looks kinda familiar... Ah, whatever; I better find Ikki. Where is he anyway?" A short-ranged scan told him Ikki was nowhere near his position nor had he been for hours.

"Ugh, I'm gonna kill him when I find him. He's not getting away with ditching me here." After a moment, Metabee decided to get up and actually find his Medafighter than repeat his threats to himself. There was no use for that.

He got up and flinched when he heard a shrill screech coming from his joints - a sure sign he needed to oil them again. Metabee made a mental note of that and walked towards the exit of the park, the forgotten robattle put to rest at the back of his mind.

He was walking along the path, avoiding a patch of weeds every now and then when something white caught his optics. He halted and kneeled to the ground for a better look.

It was a white rag. It looked innocent enough, but Metabee knew he didn't see it earlier and Ikki certainly wasn't carrying it with him. Metabee usually wouldn't have considered it, but scans were showing there was some sort of substance - a drug of some type - on it.

He picked it up and gazed curiously at it, but Medabots didn't have a big advantage when it came to senses: they only had sight, hearing, and pain... Whoever came up with pain sensors for Medabots would've felt the wrath of Metabee!

He shook his head. He couldn't let his train of thought run away. He had to get this cloth with the strange substance to somebody. Dr. Aki? Henry?...

Metabee had a vague feeling in his processor that he should ask Henry.

Weird.

* * *

 

"Finally, I got here! That took forever. Must've taken a wrong turn or something." Metabee panted unnecessarily, a human habit he must have picked up.

Just as he was about to walk forward and enter the store, Metabee caught something hurtling itself at him in the reflection. "What the-!" The 'Bot instinctively and swiftly ducked to his right, narrowly missing a metal hammer that would've put decent-sized dent in his armor.

"Sumilidon, what's wrong with you?" Metabee asked in disbelief and a fair bit of rage. Cheap shots weren't something he usually left unpunished.

The Medabot stood up and faced him silently, ignoring his question. However the question didn't go unanswered. "Why did you clowns keep me waiting?" Koji stalked towards the storefront, furious at the notion that Ikki and Metabee apparently ditched him.

"Keep _you_ waiting?" Metabee was getting angrier; his famous temper began to flare, "you already won! Gave me a few dents I need to hammer out!"

Koji looked confused and annoyed, "you never came! I don't know what's wrong with your memory, but it's obviously faulty! I suggest you get your head checked by that woman! After all, it's not surprising being you're an outdated Medabot."

With no warning whatsoever, Metabee leapt at Koji.

He sprinted towards the suddenly cowering boy with his guns raised and ready. He forgot everything he learned about decency and not shooting at humans in particular. He also forgot about Sumilidon.

He tackled Metabee to the ground and they raised a dust cloud as they both struggled. Sumilidon had to avoid Metabee's fists, and Metabee kept trying to pound his opponent's face in, shouting out rather colorful curses.

The doors suddenly slid open and a flustered Henry darted outside trying to see what was causing a commotion outside his store. "What's going on out here? Break it up, you two!"

Working together, Koji and Henry managed to detangle the brawling Medabots and, with the exception of Metabee, let them go. Henry locked his arms in a hold under Metabee's and kept him off the ground. It wasn't easy given that Metabee's armor was rather heavy and Metabee himself was currently trying to murder Henry.

It took a few minutes for the robot to stop violently fidgeting. Henry was tempted at the thought of muting Metabee until he was completely calm. Finally, he stopped kicking and punching randomly and went limp as exhaustion pulsed through his body.

"Now," Henry said sternly as he unceremoniously dropped Metabee, "I'm not going to ask what set your temper off, but I am going to tell you to take your fight somewhere else. Last thing I need is the cops coming back here again..." Henry looked around. "Say, where is Ikki? He's usually in the middle of messes like these."

Metabee took several seconds to ponder the question before it clicked as to why he was here. "Oh yeah! Before the twerp-"

"Hey!" Koji protested.

"-and his piece of junk sprang a sneak attack, I was going to give you this. I honestly have no clue where Ikki went."

Henry took the cloth and inspected it, making a face when he sniffed the strange odor. "This smells like the stuff I use - I mean, the _Phantom Renegade_ uses." Henry quickly corrected himself, wiping some nervous sweat off quickly.

The mistake didn't go pass Metabee without notice and he regarded Henry with suspicion, "is there something you know that I don't?"

"Uh... What are you talking about? There's no way _I'm_ the _Phantom Renegade_!" Henry gave a nervous chuckle.

"Wait, hold on, I never said-"

"Silence!" Koji interrupted, " _I_ want to see what's the deal with that cloth."

Henry looked at it again, "it smells weird - almost makes me dizzy if I smell it too much... It's probably chloroform."

Metabee tilted his head. "Wait, what? You might need to explain something here because we are _not_ on the same page."

Henry sighed, "chloroform. It's the stuff that knocks people out for a while. Where'd you find this rag? Chloroform isn't something you buy at the supermarket."

"I found it when I was coming out of the unused path in the park. I didn't see it there earlier and Ikki didn't have it with him," Metabee answered.

"You guys didn't show up for our robattle and I didn't see Ikki... Do you think he got grabbed?" Koji asked incredulously.

"Hold on! No need to jump to conclusions, we'll just ask Ikki's other friends if they'd seen him around," Henry suggested. "The very last thing we need is conspiracy theories."

"Wait a minute! We? There's no way Sumilidon and I are going on this little manhunt! I'm not about to be kidnapped too!"

"I wouldn't mind if you beat it," Metabee replied.

"I'd like you to come, Koji, the bigger the group the better... Eh, I think," Henry scratched his head uncertainly.

"Great. I'm stuck with the spoiled rich kid and Mr. I-like-to-slack-off..."

"I'm not spoiled!"

"How many times do I have to say I don't work the evening shift?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you can leave a comment, that'd be great! :)


	4. Setting the Stage

Ikki huffed as he worked at his watch.

It was a few hours after his check-up and he was given a clean bill of health. He heard something about being "perfectly healthy" and "giving the experiment a try". Ikki didn't feel like sticking around long enough for that to happen.

Ikki fiddled with the different settings on the watch, but error messages kept popping up on his screen causing him to growl with frustration. "They must be blocking signals in this place," he murmured, "if I can find whatever blocking me, I'll see if I can disable it... somehow."

"Aw, you're not thinking of leaving so soon, are you?" The voice nearly made Ikki's heart stop. He peered at a shadowy corner closely until he could make out a silhouette of a man. How long had he been standing there?

"Oh yeah? Who're you, creep? What's the big idea keeping me here like this?" The boy challenged.

The "place" he was referring to was an old cell with practically nothing in it save for an uncomfortable bed.

"You're not in a position to make demands, kid, so I suggest you pipe down," the stranger commanded. "You're not gonna be there for long." 

Now Ikki's curiosity was peaked, "hold on, what do you mean? I'm pretty sure you're not going to let me out just like that."

The man mockingly started clapping, "congratulations, you're not as dumb as you look. However, I'm not going to tell - I'll get in trouble if I do." He finally stepped out of the shadows.

He was rather slim and looked fit. He had scruffy blond hair and blue eyes that had an arrogant and stormy look to them. But the most interesting feature was a scar, shaped like an X, that started from the inside of his eyebrows and came to a stop on the edge of his jaw. 

"Wait a second! You're the guy that kidnapped me! When I get out of here, I'm gonna-!" Ikki stomped towards the bars, intent on calling down curses on him.

"That's enough." The man coldly interrupted, "the name's Ex, and no, I'm not foolish enough to give my real name out. Don't worry, I already know who you are."

_'Creepy,'_   Ikki thought with a small shudder.

"You'll stay here in this cozy little cell until tomorrow; that's when the fun really begins." Ex smiled, sending an icy feeling running down Ikki's back. "You should be honored, Ikki, you're helping a noble cause."

"I don't see anything noble about any this!" Ikki spat, sending Ex a glare hot enough to melt him.

Ex stepped closer, "that's because you are so naïve. Think about it this way, you're helping to make the world a better place. What cause is more honorable than that? Hmm?"

"I..." Ikki couldn't say anything.

"I thought so." Ex unlocked the door to the cell and placed a tray of food on the mattress. If he saw the watch, he made no indication. "You'll want to eat that, I'm pretty sure you're hungry."

Ikki sweat dropped. "Uh, where did you get that from?" He asked.

"...I had it with me the entire time," Ex seemed slightly flustered from this question.

"But I didn't see it on you!"

"...Just eat the stuff, kid, I'm not bringing anything else; and you're not being poisoned, so don't get started on that." The man turned on his heel and walked out of the cell, making sure to lock the door. Ikki stared after his departing form with a perplexed look on his face.

What was left to do now?

* * *

Ex walked through the series of hallways whistling a slightly off-pitched tune. He stopped by a door marked 'Laboratory' and went inside once the doors hissed open. "Hey, Isis, how goes the preparations for the project?" He greeted.

Isis acknowledged him, "it's steady right now. No delays." She kept her sentences short and brisk, tension overshadowing her normally detached demeanor as she worked.

Ex observed some scientists and their assistants preparing a pod of sorts. "Hey, what're they doing over there?" He pointed.

Isis looked up distractedly, "hm? Oh, that's where the experiment will take place. It'll be do or die when the time comes."

"Well, I need to have something interesting to tell the boss, so you might as well spill it," Ex stated, leaning his hip against her desk.

"I don't have anymore information available. Not till tomorrow. Now if you'll be so kind as to get out of my lab, I'd most certainly appreciate it," Isis snapped.

"Geez, lose the hostility, will you?" Ex said offhandedly.

"Speak for yourself! I'm not in the mood to deal with you!"

"Whatever," he replied, "but I can't say how Shadow will take to boring details."

"Well, it's the truth; he certainly doesn't enjoy being lied to," Isis replied.

Ex sighed, rubbing the back of his head, "y'know, I'd love to stay and chat, but experience is telling me you have no time for small talk."

Isis feigned surprise, "Ex, are you actually thinking of others?"

"Okay, that was just uncalled for," he grumbled.

"Just go away so I can get back to my work. It's amazing how you can wreck my concentration like that," Isis said sourly.

The man frowned and slipped out the door without so much as a sound. Isis shook her head and sighed; Ex was truly something else.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow... This was so short I'm actually ashamed of myself as a writer. Sorry. I suppose this was meant to be a filler chapter.
> 
> Next chapter will a lot longer than this one.
> 
> -Winterbornbree


	5. The Storm Approaches

The sunset painted the sky in various shades of red, orange, and purple. The sun was slowly lowering behind a bridge in the far distance.

Metabee didn't pay attention to the picture-perfect scene. He was too busy trying to skip rocks and utterly failing at it.

"How come Ikki can do this and I _can't_?" Metabee growled.

He was at the river alone; the search yielded no results and they separated late that evening with Koji mentioning something about it being a massive waste of his time. As if the pretentious brat had anything better to do.

Metabee picked a pebble up, adjusted his angle a little, and threw. The tiny stone managed one pathetic hop before promptly plummeting under the water. The yellow 'Bot was satisfied with that - but not by much.

He abruptly sat on the ground and held his head in his hands, watching the river flow towards the sea. "This sucks! What am I supposed to tell Ikki's parents? 'That fool got himself lost in a park and I can't find a trace of him?' Yeah, like they'll buy that!" Metabee fumed.

"Calm down," a voice called, "how will panicking help your situation?"

Metabee turned around, startled, "just _how_ are you in the most convenient places at the right time?"

The salesman smiled, "that is my secret."

Metabee stood up and crossed his arms, "whatever you say - and no, I don't want your chicks."

The salesman sheepishly put one of them back.

"What do you want anyway?" Metabee snapped gruffly.

The salesman just looked at Metabee before offering a friendly smile, "Would you mind keeping an old man company?"

Metabee was about let loose a scathing reply before biting it back. He gave a sigh and tried to release pent up energy, "I guess it won't hurt." He approached and plopped down next to the man.

"Why do you seem to be so upset?"

"Isn't it obvious? My Medafighter's gone! He could be hurt, or experimented on, or... or..." Metabee declined to imagine the last scenario. He involuntarily shuddered.

"I see, it's a grave situation your friend is in. My question is, what are you doing about it?"

"I tried everything I could think of! I can't contact him, I can't find a trace of him anywhere!" Metabee started shivering slightly, his storming emotions were becoming hard to contain again, "I don't know what to do..."

"Did your friend ever give up on you when you were in the same situation?"

"Well, no, but-"

"Why are you so close to giving up now?"

"I'm _NOT!_ " Metabee jumped to his feet, rage spilling over.

"Son, turn your rage into passion and make use of a cool head; are you sure you saw nothing? Remain calm and remember."

Metabee blinked, trying to think. He sifted through memories and came across a particularly fuzzy one. "Wait, it was a guy who knocked me out... Couldn't see him clearly, but I think he had blond hair? And some sort of mark was on his face, I think."

"Good. Use that to your advantage."

"I... This is the first time you've been straightforward."

The old man smiled, "I have my moments. Now, go. I have a feeling your friend is much closer than you think."

Metabee regarded him for a moment before nodding and walking off. Venting felt a little better now that he got everything off his chestplates, but he still felt doubt in the back of his mind.

Perhaps another sweep in the area wouldn't be a bad idea.

* * *

_Ikki opened his eyes slowly, before snapping to his senses and jerked up. Around him, the sky held millions of stars - some twinkling while the rest merely blazed._

_That didn't seem right, he never saw this many stars back near his home._

_Home..._

_Ikki then noticed he was back at the site where that man abducted him from. Perhaps he wasn't what they wanted and rejected him. Whatever the case may be, Ikki was ecstatic. "Aw yeah! I can go home!"_

_Suddenly remembering Metabee, Ikki darted towards the brush, "Metabee! Where are you? Don't tell me you were conked out the entire time! We gotta go home before Mom grounds the both of us!"_

_It slowly dawned on Ikki that there was absolutely no sound. No insects, no sounds of angry traffic, nothing. Unsure, he came to a halt, slowly looking around him. The area seemed to be more and more out of a dream._

_It was like existing in a void._

_With that thought taking root inside his mind, his heart slowly sank as he gave up. It was just a dream; so much for freedom._

_Suddenly, the bushes started rustling - the first sounds Ikki heard - and a Medabot stepped through. He blinked as he tried to process what he was seeing. The Medabot looked like an exact copy of Metabee. Except for the inverted color scheme - which black was prevailing with some white in places - it was the same type, same build (had Metabee kept his old armor) and everything. Probably except personality._

_Nobody had a hair trigger temper like Metabee._

_The Medabot looked around curiously - like the place triggered something important that it only knew. It walked slower than before, taking no notice of Ikki. It looked at its hands with bewilderment._

_"Wh-what's this?" The words had a distinct echo. Yep, definitely a dream, either that or Ikki was beginning to go deaf. No big deal, he grumpily thought._

'Wait, is it me or does that sound kind of like-' _Whatever thought that flitted through his mind was cut off as the area disappeared with the speed of a fingersnap._

 _I_ _kki was left sitting in a white void, mouth gaping. "What the-! What happened now?"_

_"That robot you just saw is very special."_

_A_ _figure came out of nowhere dressed in a dark robe with a hood that hid the person's face in shadow, "he is born with the power to bring doom upon your world or save it."_

_Ikki stood up, " oh yeah? And what does that have to do with me? What does **any of this** _have to do with_ **me** _?" He spread his arms as he spoke. Anger pulsed through his body; he wanted answers and he was going to get them.__

__"A lot more than you think. My reason for coming to you is to administer a warning: those people who imprison you seek to bring about the end of the world as you know it. It is important that they are prevented from reaching that goal," he stated gravely._ _

__"What am I supposed to do about it? I'm only 12! I can't do anything about the end of the world!" Ikki started to sweat, which was a feat in itself since he was corporeal, and shake slightly._ _

__Sure, he had already stopped a madman from taking over the world, but if it weren't for Metabee and the others, he wasn't sure he could have succeeded. "Why come to me?" He asked._ _

__"I've come to give you a message from beyond... I trusted you once, I know you can accomplish this task."_ _

_"Wait, you trusted me once? Who_ are _you?"_

_"That isn't important, dear child. What you must focus on is the task at hand."_

__"If you're not pulling my leg - heck, if you're even real, you want me to tell someone who'll stop it," Ikki sighed.__

__"Whatever you have the ability to do."_ _

__"Okay, but in case you don't know, I'm stuck in a cell - I can't get out," Ikki replied sardonically._ _

__The messenger chuckled, "look around and about you - you might just discover something."_ _

__Ikki didn't respond but sank back down on the "floor" and held his head. But he sat down for less than five seconds before everything started turning hazy and distorted._ _

_"What's happening?" Ikki asked, already getting disoriented and, strangely, sick._

_"You are waking up. You will not be permitted to remember me or this place, only my warning. Be sure to heed it," His voice took on a hard edge._

* * *

Ikki woke up to a feverish headache and sweat covering his body. He clutched his head as he grumbled with pain, "ow, what the heck?"

He pushed himself up from his cot and looked at his watch. **_01:30_** stared back at him in glowing green digits, the only light in the pitch darkness around the boy. Ikki sighed and fell back down letting his thoughts wander.

...Wait...

 Ikki could remember the strange warning - that was practically etched in stone - but whoever was the messenger Ikki could not recall.

It didn't matter anyway, he needed to be focused at the task at hand: hatching an escape plan _again_.

Of course, he remembered watching people pick locks in some movies and had tried it himself once or twice. But he had never succeeded and eventually gave up the whole thing. Especially since his mother caught him and scolded him sternly.

Metabee never let him live that down.

Ikki shook his head, _'Focus.'_

He suddenly stopped his train of thought and was intrigued. He sat up and jammed his hand into one of his pockets, digging up a little pocket lint, and eventually found what he was looking for.

A hair pin. At least it felt like one. Ikki grinned like a lunatic.

He slowly approached the door of the old cell while being sure to keep his hands in front of him. No use slamming into something and: a) knocking himself out and/or b) making too much noise. Once he reached the entrance of his cell, Ikki pushed his hands through the bars and felt alongside the door for the lock. He quietly slipped the pin into the lock, trying to turn it in different directions and straining his ears for a click.

It seemed like forever (in reality it was only minutes) when Ikki was finally rewarded with the telltale click. A horrendously loud one that seemed to shatter the still darkness...but a click nonetheless.

Ikki was worried that it was enough to attract guards and land him in bigger trouble, but a minute passed and Ikki didn't hear so much as a sound let alone a watchman or two.

Ikki could hardly keep from laughing obnoxiously and victoriously at his feat, but he decided to save the celebrating for later. After all, escaping from a locked room was only half the battle.

He couldn't help but feel like a blind man as he felt his way through the room and carefully checked for any trip wires or some trap lying around. After a few minutes, Ikki made it to the hallway and turned on the flashlight feature on his watch and shone it around, checking for any signs leading to the exit.

 _'Jeez, what's with the lack of security around here? You'd think they would keep a better eye on the place or something.'_ Ikki thought wryly. A sudden bout of paranoia hit him like a tidal wave and he hoped there was no night-vision cameras.

His heart rate increased and decreased as he went on, wary of each dark corner that seemed to beckon him over. The unnatural silence hung over the base like a thick fog.

Ikki almost had a heart attack when he thought he heard voices coming out of a room. He froze, then chided himself for being so jumpy. He shone his makeshift flashlight towards a door that lead to... ruins?

The door wasn't like the others.

Whereas the doors further in the base looked more technologically advanced, this door was made out of stone and was open - which Ikki wasn't sure whether that was a good thing or not. He walked in and shone his watch on the walls getting a sudden sense of déjà vu. The faint light revealed the answer and he froze.

Ancient pictures of Medabots were scattered across the wall and in different positions. He located Rokusho, Sumilidon, Peppercat, and Metabee... 'I know where I am!' He realized with a degree of relief. If he could remember the path to entrance, he could-

He heard a boot scuff against the ground. _'You have got to be kidding me_ _.'_

"Like the pretty pictures?" An amused voice asked, "I mean, they're a bit rough, but still."

Ikki whirled around with a sinking heart. He was so close...

The light landed on Ex taking off his night-vision goggles with a smirk on his face, "you were actually stupid enough to think you could get away from us so easily? You got a lot to learn about this place, kid. We weren't born yesterday."

 _'Why do escape attempts always have to go wrong?'_   Ikki groaned.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, that chapter was actually not too bad to write.
> 
> First of all, the section with Metabee and the chick salesman? Well, I totally stink at any sort of advice so please have mercy on me!
> 
> This story takes place after the anime, including Spirits, so I headcanon Ikki to being 12 years old at the time (I consider season 3 to take place 2 years after season 2).
> 
> I hoped you like the longish chapter! I will try to keep going up with each chapter I write.
> 
> Anyway, the next chapter will be up soon.
> 
> -Winterbornbree


	6. Where There's Smoke

Ikki's heart pumped furiously and adrenaline began to flow throughout his body. He watched Ex and tensed up. He barely managed to keep his body from shaking violently.

"So, you got out of your cell, huh? Really wasn't expecting that. We wouldn't have put you in there if that was the case." Ex started stepping towards him, "you're coming with me and we're going to choose a cozy cell. How about that?"

 Naturally, Ikki made a break for it.

Dimly, he remembered a secret exit he was shown some time ago. Hopefully, there would be no surprises waiting for him...

A _very_ loud bang nearly deafened him. He heard a projectile whiz right by his ear. Ikki nearly tripped and faceplanted but managed to recover.

"Not so fast, kid. I missed on purpose that time; don't force me to actually use this," Ex gestured to the pistol he was holding.

Ikki slowly turned around with his hands up, "have you ever shot anything besides targets?" He spat. Disbelief and fear evolved into frustration and anger. _He was so close, damn it!_

Ex didn't seem impressed, "what? You really wanna know?" He shrugged, "yeah I have, I can't say the results afterwards were pretty. You'd be no exception - just another mess to clean up and all. So, don't make this difficult."

The watch's light was pointed behind Ikki, so he couldn't really see Ex, but he assumed Ex could see _him_. Ikki suddenly had an idea that may have been near suicidal. 

He shuffled a little closer before suddenly darting straight towards Ex. "What the-" his curse cut short as he fired wildly around the boy. Ikki kept charging.

"Hey! What're you- Oof!" Ikki had charged headfirst into Ex's groin and managed to kick it for good measure. Ex doubled over with a low groan. Ikki took that moment to escape.

"Security!" Ex's voice shrilled in rage, "get the brat! He's loose!"

* * *

Ikki scowled as he raced through random corridors and nearly ran into walls. There had to be somewhere to hide!

Problem was, there wasn't really anything to hide behind and Ikki didn't trust himself to go in through a door and not get caught. He took to going through shadowy passageways and staying there until it was safe. The lights had come on during his near escape that backfired on him. Footsteps and yells echoed through the hallways.

Ikki quickly ducked into a dark passageway. He slid down the wall until he was sitting and let himself breathe. Ikki hadn't realized how far he'd gone or where he was; he was totally and utterly lost.

As if things couldn't get any worse, in his panic, he totally forgot about the exit.

He facepalmed, "that's gotta be the world's biggest fail ever!" Ikki pulled his knees up to his chest and buried his head; he was never getting out, not without pulling off some sort of miracle.

He wasn't sure how long he had sat there, but it must have been long enough to where everything was numb. He didn't know if it had been minutes or hours.

Ikki was astonished that security hadn't found him yet and grinned, "they seriously must have lousy guards around here. I wonder if they're bringing out some Medabots..." With that thought, Ikki immediately reverted back to silence. The last thing he needed was to jinx himself.

Ikki's ears picked up the sound of a door hissing open and soft footsteps ringing out from the cold metal floor. He shrank and tried to look small and insignificant in the shadowy corridor, wishing he could merge with the walls itself.

A woman, looking absolutely disheveled and tired, walked passed the corridor and stopped, inspecting the charts in her hands. That looked like... what's her name? Isis?

_'Don't look here. Don't look here. Don't look here!'_ Ikki desperately chanted in his head. He nervously shifted positions. If he tried to bolt deeper into the corridor, he'd be running into a dead-end, but the other way wasn't an option. Or at least not one he preferred.

He held his breath and changed positions again and... his shoe squeaked. _'Oh come on!'_   Ikki clenched his fist hard enough to make his nails bite into his skin.

Isis sharply snapped up at the source of the faint noise, "who's there? Come out at once!" Ikki flinched at the commanding tone, but he didn't dare move or utter a sound.

Isis stared suspiciously into the shadows AKA Ikki's hiding spot. Not good. He knew it would be only a matter of seconds until her eyes adjusted to the darkness. 

Ikki tensed his legs for a moment, took a shaky breath to steel his nerves, and bolted. Her face radiated shock and was unable to act as Ikki sprinted right past her and settled to run in a random direction.

His legs were about to give after three minutes of a dead run. "My...new...record," Ikki panted as he slowed down and stooped, putting his hands on his knees. He felt like dropping face-first on the ground and never getting back up. The only thing that kept him going was pure adrenaline and blind terror.

Ikki looked at his watch: **0** **2** **:30**. _'It's only been an hour?'_   The boy wondered. He straightened up and looked around warily. The halls looked as if they were part of a labyrinth.

Ikki started walking slowly before he caught a particular set of sounds like metal footsteps. He whirled around and the noise ceased immediately. Ikki curled his mouth into a shaky scowl. He couldn't have been stalked, could he?

_Aw, get a grip over yourself, you crybaby!_

Ikki's eyes widened, that couldn't be... Metabee?! He looked wildly around and tentatively called out, "Metabee? You here too."

_I'm just a figment of your imagination, you idiot._

"And now I'm officially delirious." Ikki wasn't sure whether to be disturbed that the yellow Medabot was in his head and talking or distressed that it was simply a hallucination.

_I'm not one to point out the obvious, but someone's watching you._

"I figured that much," Ikki muttered.

_Hey, I was just trying to help._ The voice was miffed.

"Sorry," Ikki said before cringing, he was going insane. "Note to self: seek help when this is over."

He immediately heard the same metal footsteps rapidly approaching and Ikki whirled swiftly to confront the threat. He barely had time to react before a blur slammed into him, roughly knocking him to the ground. Ikki clumsily scrambled back up and fought to gain leverage on the thing. He couldn't quite get a good look at it - it never stayed in the same spot. The only detail he could catch was that the dominant color was deep red.

Ikki tried coordinating his strikes so that they would collide where he would predict his unknown foe would be. He wondered that if he managed to make contact with the blur, he would end up with a throbbing, dislocated wrist.

Suddenly, his hand caught something - maybe its shoulders. Ikki manage to whirl it around quickly before giving it a solid right hook to the face. He heard a satisfying crack ring through the air - sharp enough to make even Metabee proud. The offender went down face first.

Ikki stood there raggedly breathing and blinked; he was the victor. He usually never won when it came to scraps like this. He rapidly shook out his hand to dull the pain. His knuckles were mildly scraped.

Only then when Ikki calmed down did he look at himself and grimaced. His shirt was torn in several places and there was nasty looking bruises marring his skin. He also tasted the coppery tang of blood on his split lip and he wiped some of it off.

Ikki hesitantly poked at the metal clad body with his foot and hopped away with his arms in front of him. The body didn't move. "You better not be playing dead," Ikki remarked, glaring at it suspiciously.

He managed to turn the Medabot over and study its features.

The Medabot looked as if it were a modified version of a KLN type: sleeker body and less armor for better aerodynamics, and lethal looking mini-guns positioned in gauntlets just over its hands. It looked as if it was built for a deadly combination of speed and firepower; definitely a force to be reckoned with.

"I should probably take its Medal out..." Ikki murmured, reaching out towards the hatch.

He didn't get much of a warning before his vision exploded with all sorts of colors. His face burned. He barely felt himself flying through the air until he hit the wall a couple of feet from where he stood before. Ikki saw a shadow loom over him and groaned.

The robot wordlessly leaned down, grabbed Ikki's collar, and pulled him up to its eye level. Or visor level. Whichever one.

"Are you the target, Ikki Tenryou?" The voice made Ikki's skin crawl. It sounded like a deep, emotionless voice of a drone. Was it a Kilobot? Ikki thought those Medabot wannabes went out of stock a couple months back. Perhaps not.

_'I'm gonna kill Kam when I get back,'_ Ikki fumed.

"Are there any other kids around here?" Ikki spat, "you really are a stupid piece of crap!"

The grip tightened and left Ikki almost choking. _'Nope, not a Kilobot! I think I made him mad.'_

"Flame, put him down! You needn't harm him any more than you already have," a woman's voice scolded.

Ikki both felt relieved and dismayed when he heard his savior. Isis walked towards them with a disgruntled frown, "there's the little troublemaker. You really know how to stir things up, don't you, Ikki?"

Flame begrudgingly put the boy down and turned to face her, "sorry, Isis, I couldn't help it. I don't take insults lying down!"

Ikki couldn't help but nearly laugh at the voice change in the Medabot. One moment he was intimidating and scary; the next, he sounded almost normal and a little whiny. 

"I am sure that he was the one lying down, but nonetheless, I rest my case," Isis replied.

She then crouched down to Ikki's prone form on the ground, "now, let's get this worked out shall we? I want that little something you used to get out of that cell."

Isis extended her hand towards him and waited. Ikki gave the hairpin to her with a barely concealed sigh; he wasn't that stupid, he knew if he refused, they would probably do something much worse to him. He trying to be smart, not traumatized. At least, not anymore than he probably was already.

"Thank you. Now if you don't mind, Flame will accompany you back to your cell. Don't try to run - he will hold you at gunpoint, so don't give him a reason to shoot. If you'll excuse me, Flame, I'm going to find that idiot." Isis stomped off, leaving Ikki and Flame alone.

"You heard the boss - walk," Flame commanded and aimed his blaster.

With a sullen expression, Ikki walked a couple of steps forward before realization hit him, "uh, which way am I going?"

* * *

After a tense and awkward couple of minutes, Ikki was put in a different cell.

To his dismay, Flame was chosen to stand guard near him and the cell didn't have a standard lock, it had to be opened by a keypad.

Neither made any attempt to start any sort of conversation. Not that Ikki minded, the silence was rather welcoming. He was laying on his side on another equally uncomfortable cot facing the wall.

"So... what're you locked in there for?" Flame finally broke the silence with an idle question.

"I have no clue," Ikki mumbled a reply. "Why the sudden curiosity?"

"It's just... as long as I've been here, I've never seen them bring in kids. It's rather wierd." Flame said.

Ikki sat up and faced the red Medabot, "what's with the mood swing? I thought you didn't like me."

Flame shrugged, "I don't have anything against you. I don't even know you much less take an instant dislike."

"What about when I insulted you?"

He made an uncaring gesture, "I can kind of understand why you were mad, I was beating you up; I didn't necessarily enjoy doing that. That's not how I meet new people. In fact, let me introduce myself: I'm Flame. You?" Flame reached through the bars for Ikki's hand.

"Ikki Tenryou." The boy replied and tentively shook Flame's hand. He felt a small, bemused smile spread across his face. He might like this strange Medabot. Flame was a weirdo, but he seemed okay.

"Ikki. That's a funny sounding name," Flame casually stated.

"It's not!" Ikki snapped, offended, "don't start joking about it! I already have kids at my school who give me flak about it!"

Flame chuckled, "alright, Ikki. I won't kid around with you, on my honor," he mock saluted. Ikki only rolled his eyes and laid back down on his bed.

He was happy to have _some_ kind of benevolent company, but he missed his house, and his bed, and his parents, and Metabee with their stupid arguments - a lot of things really. He tried to force down a wave of homesickness while falling asleep.

It didn't work.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I actually reedited this chapter and so far I seem to like it... until I find another reason to edit it. *sigh*
> 
> With that being said, I hope you enjoyed reading this chapter. If you're inclined to do so, feel free to leave a comment. Questions, critiques, anything, I'll be sure to address them. I don't want to waste anyone's time or my own with a bad story.
> 
> -Winterbornbree


	7. A New Day

Metabee walked slowly through his neighborhood as a golden light peeked through the hills and distant buildings. The city was still busy and somewhat crowded, but it was about to get louder.

A new day had arrived.

Metabee was ready to throw up his hands and admit defeat.

He couldn't believe that he found no trace of Ikki except for that white rag that was with Henry. Rage and frustration welled up inside him like a volcano; he could erupt anytime and there'd be nothing anyone could do about it.

It took several minutes, but Metabee managed to get to his house in a relatively short time span. He faced the front door and steeled his nerves. "Well, Metabee, time to face the music." He held in a shudder when he thought about Mrs. Tenryou having his head on a nonexistent silver platter.

She was normally a very sweet woman, but this situation was anything but normal, and no doubt she would freak out. _'With good reason,'_ Metabee slumped.

He was about to turn the doorknob when he heard worried one-sided conversation from inside. He turned and crept to the front window which was open (apparently, Mrs. Tenryou liked to open the window every morning to let the breeze flow; Ikki had often complained that it allowed mosquitoes and other pests to get in) and listened.

"What do you mean they're gone without a trace? Isn't there anything else the department can do? Yes... I understand... Goodbye, Sargent Tanaka." 

Metabee heard Mrs. Tenryou put the phone down and sigh with worry; Ikki and Metabee hadn't returned that night. She couldn't help but wonder if some horrible fate had befallen Ikki, even with Metabee there to protect him if anything went wrong. All the more reason for concern.

Meanwhile, just outside, Metabee clenched and unclenched his fists as guilt started to gnaw at him. He only wanted to robattle! Not get every person close to him and Ikki sick with worry!

He backed up from the window.

"I ain't goin' home. Not until I can find Ikki and bring him back." Metabee shook his head in weariness, "ah, Ik, the things I do for you."

* * *

Ikki slept surprisingly peacefully that night. No weird nightmares. No weird foreshadowing or prophecies. No weird dreams of any kind whatsoever.

On the other hand, his back was absolutely killing him.

Ikki woke up to Flame turned away from him, still guarding his cell. The hallway outside the prison was bustling with some sort of urgency that the young Medafighter could immediately pick up.

He turned to Flame, "what's going on out there?"

Flame tensed, "no idea - I've been here all night."

"You're not hiding something, are you?" Ikki asked, although the accusation within his tone was apparent enough.

Flame twitched, "I'm just as clueless as you are."

 _'So much for that,'_ Ikki became annoyed, he needed to know _something_ that would hint to his fate. _'They probably aren't going to keep me around for very long... I wonder why they took me to begin with - if they wanted a ransom, they could have taken Koji; he's filthy rich... Whatever it is, I hope they'll let me go.'_

Perhaps this was a naïve way of thinking, but it was the only thing that comforted him in that moment. For all his bluster as a skilled Medafighter, he was still a kid after all.

He was scared.

_"...He is born with the power to bring doom upon your world or save it..."_

_'This whole thing would be a lot easier to deal with if I didn't get a splitting headache every time I so much as think about it,'_ Ikki rubbed his temples as they started to throb. 

"Uh... are you okay?"

The slightly concerned voice of Flame cut through Ikki's thoughts and he looked up. "Yeah. Just a random headache. Nothing to worry about," Ikki reassured with a wobbly smile, wincing as he did so.

Flame looked at him with slight suspicion before turning back around. Ikki sighed in relief as he fell back on his cot, listening to the commotion outside and the mess in his mind that was his thoughts.

 _'He's perfectly healthy...give the experiment a try.'_ Those words echoed and swirled endlessly around his head, never giving Ikki a moment's reprieve. _'_ I wonder what they're gonna do to me.'

The sound of approaching footsteps and quiet grumbling roused Ikki from his thoughts.

"Ex," Flame greeted simply.

Ikki took one look at Ex and a face-splitting grin appeared. A bright red slap mark highlighted his cheek and Ex himself didn't appear too pleased. "What're you laughing at, brat?" He snapped.

"I'm guessing Isis gave you the angry female treatment?" Ikki jabbed.

Ex's face flushed and his hands tightened on the tray of food. Flame seemed to have been amused as he turned away from Ex. Ex entered the password on the keypad and bars retracted, allowing him to come in, "if you're as clever as they say, I suggest shutting up. I'm not in the mood to be dealing with you."

"Take it easy, Ex. Quit bullying the kid," Flame said.

"You should have seen him this morning, "Ikki quipped. Ex gave him a withering glare.

"Here," He thrust the tray towards Ikki. "Not that I care, but you need to eat. I can't have you fainting now."

"Why? What's gonna to happen to me?"

"Classified information, kid. You'll find out soon enough." Ex walked out of Ikki's temporary prison and slid the bars shut, automatically locking them, "Flame, you keep slacking off and messing around with the kid, I'll report you for not doing your job right."

"I've been standing my post all night!" Flame protested.

"You're not supposed to talk to him - and don't lie to me, you seem awfully fond of him already - he's a prisoner, not a guest."

"Gee, I certainly couldn't tell." Flame muttered. He shifted before stating, "I don't need you to tell me how to do my job."

"Clearly I do. You keep this up and you might actually get dismantled this time. Can't have a Medabot who won't do as he's told."

Ikki snorted quietly, _'he thinks_ this _guy is bad? He should have seen Metabee.'_

Flame's visor flickered momentarily with anger, "you were leaving?" His tone was surprisingly composed.

Ex left the room and its occupants, Flame idly cracked his knuckles - or the closest thing to knuckles that a robot had - and glared daggers at the doorway that Ex walked through, "I never liked that guy. Only one who can tolerate him halfway is Isis."

"Hmm." Ikki made an uncaring sound as he inspected his meager breakfast.

He tentatively nibbled at some eggs before he made a face and blanched, "they really need to fire the cook; this is gross!"

Flame gave him a sympathetic glance, "I'd go for the toast unless they burnt it."

"Oh, they burnt it all right... I wasn't very hungry anyway," Ikki pushed the platter away.

"Suit yourself."

Ikki glared at the Medabot, "you try eating this and survive food poisoning!"

"I think I'll pass considering I don't have a mouth," Flame answered easily.

Ikki's chuckles was quickly interrupted by oncoming footsteps. Flame quickly stood to attention and stared straight ahead, akin to a soldier. Isis and an older doctor walked into the room and quickly opened the cell holding Ikki hostage, "come on. We need to go through with this."

You might as well talk to Ikki in a foreign language or something related to that; he couldn't pick up any further clue on what's going on in Isis' words. "What're we doing now?" Ikki asked, confused.

"...You'll see," Ikki didn't like the vagueness in her voice.

The doctor quickly took out a syringe with liquid sloshing through it. He reached for Ikki and the latter suddenly had a crystal clear view of what was going on.

"Is that a needle? NO WAY! Get that thing away from me!"

Perhaps not as clear as one first thought.

"Young man, don't let us resort to unneeded measures. It won't even sting _that_ much!" The physician tried to reassure. "Flame, we may need your assistance."

Flame obediently stepped into the cell, watching Ikki with some amusement, "chill out, man! It's just a shot."

At the mention of the said item, Ikki shuddered, looked at all of them once and took off, surprising Isis, the physician, and Flame alike.

"Get back here!" Flame tackled Ikki face first to the ground and managed to effectively pin him while Ikki was spouting off threats and curses towards the offending Medabot.

"Ikki, it's just a shot, now give him your arm!"

"Get off me! I already got my shots!"

"Well, you're getting another one. Hold still and it'll be over."

"Let. Me. GO!"

At once, the struggling two quickly dissolved into a mushroom cloud of fists and feet while the embarrassed Isis closed her eyes and twitched her eyebrow, annoyed, and the doctor coughed awkwardly.

"All right. That's enough, don't make me have to knock you both unconscious," Isis threatened, as she split the two apart.

* * *

After pulling the brawling pair off each other, the physician administered the shot. Ikki felt like he had a cotton ball for a head and was tempted to pass out right there in the hallway. That wasn't normal, was it?

With Flame begrudgingly supporting him and Isis keeping an eye on his progress, passing out wasn't going to be much of an option. They'd probably drag to wherever they were going anyway.

They entered a cold room filled with murmuring voices and Ikki felt a chill crawl down his spine. He could barely see due to the drug that they gave him, but Ikki was sober enough to judge whether or not he liked this place.

The answer? A big, fat no.

Flame didn't seem to like the room either. He instinctively and unconsciously tightened his hold around Ikki and was looking around with apprehension.

"Alright, Flame. Give the boy to me and you will be dismissed," a scientist ordered.

"What's going to happen to him?" Flame questioned.

"Never mind that, just hand him over."

"Just... don't hurt him too much," Flame muttered.

"Flame, do as he says. The boy should be of no concern to you," Isis said.

Flame reluctantly released Ikki from his grip and stepped away, leaving the drowsy and bewildered boy to the mercy of the scientists. At Isis' further prompting, Flame eventually left.

Time seemed to slow down as he was led to some sort of machine - a pod of sorts; Ikki could hearing himself breathing unnaturally loud and the voices of the adults mixed into a monotonous drone.

_Don't be afraid - your story does not end here. This is only the beginning..._

That cryptic message was whispered into Ikki's ear, causing him to shake his head in confusion.

A ghost?

Ikki was a skeptic when it came to the supernatural, but there were moments when he would look over his shoulder just to be cautious.

Time sped up again. Ikki was roughly pushed forward when his pace was too slow. "Hey, watch it, buddy," Ikki snapped. He was slowly recovering from the unknown drug they gave him and his eyes were slightly brighter.

The odd machine loomed closer and Ikki, none too gently, was 'helped' in.

The door to the oval shaped machine closed and Ikki stood there in the darkness. With the cryptic words finally imprinting itself in his brain, Ikki began to panic. "Am...am I going to... _d_ _ie_?"

This was one of the moments Ikki would not be proud of, but all he wanted to do was to crumple up in a heap and sob. There were still so many things he wanted to do with his life and he ends up dying like a lab rat?

Pathetic.

Ikki heard the machine start up with an ominous rumble and sat up and pulled his legs in to bury his head.

Tears were spilling out of his eyes as he sniffed and trembled, trying to rein in his moment of weakness. He thought of various people in history going down in blazes of glory. This wouldn't be one of those, but Ikki wouldn't die like a coward.

He would rather die like a man.

He wiped the tears from his face with the back of his hand roughly and glared at the doorway as the machine took on a high pitched whine. Green lights suddenly switched on, illuminating the boy and accenting the different circuits.

Ikki had time for one more idle thought and the faces of nearly everyone he had shared his adventures with - friend, foe, and rival alike - filled his mind as he shut his eyes tight and braced himself for the inevitable to happen.

At last, his thoughts came to a stop on Metabee: the blockhead of a 'Bot who drove him absolutely nuts all the time, yet stuck closer than any brother would.

He smiled.

The machine nearly deafened him.

The world went black.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hoped you enjoyed reading this. 
> 
> Please, leave a comment if you are inclined. Otherwise, have a great day/night!
> 
> -Winterbornbree


	8. Stranded

The pod hissed as the energy surge died down. Isis breathed a sigh of relief; the pod operated smoothly and didn't set off an explosion - always a good sign. _'Hopefully the kid's still in one piece,'_ she thought.

"Ryu, hand me the printouts... Tell the others to get that Medabot and Medal. We're initiating the final phase." Her assistant first handed her a sheet of paper before rounding some technicians.

"You there," she gestured towards the group of medics standing by, "get the boy and make sure he's okay."

"Right away, ma'am," one of them answered and they started to approach the machine. A noise made her glance over her shoulder as she was making her way to a terminal. The medical team opened the door and one of them went inside only to come back out with a limp body.

"What's his condition?" Isis questioned.

"He isn't responding to anything. I'll take him to medical," the man grunted.

Isis nodded curtly before turning back to the monitor, reading the printout, "hmm, there's some interesting activity going on in that head of yours," she murmured.

"Isis? I've got the Medabot and Medal all hooked up and ready to go," her assistant's quiet voice pierced Isis' thoughts.

She glanced up, "thank you, Ryu. I'll see to the rest of the operation now."

Isis found a slot on the computer and slid the paper in. The results loaded on the screen and an image of a Medabot appeared beside the data. "Oh boy, this is going to take some work..."

It took half the day, translating the data into a code, working said code into the Medabot's hard drive, and she still had some unfinished work.

"Alright everyone, take a break!" She called, catching the attention of everyone in the room, "we have a lot of work to do, so don't let me catch anyone loitering around later on when you can be useful."

Relieved sighs and hushed conversation broke out as people filed through the doors.

Isis finally had a good look at the Medabot through a glass tube. Its raven colored armor was reflecting the harsh fluorescent lighting; two gleaming blasters protruded from the top of both its wrists, and the space where the optics should've been was a dead black.

"You'll see the light of day soon," Isis promised as her fingers darted across the keyboard rapidly typing in vital information. Soon, most of her workers came back and continued work on the blank Medal.

Some time later, the young woman crossed her arms with satisfaction; this had to be enough to bring their creation to life. This Medabot was rather different from the others. "Alright, let's give this a shot. If it doesn't work, we'll be back to square one and the boss won't be happy. So cross your fingers this'll work," Isis barked.

Someone handed her the Medal and another lowered the glass. She gingerly turned the lifeless body over and found its hatch. She opened it and set the golden coin in place.

A whir sounded in the small space as the Medal stuggled to power the robot and its systems. Everyone held their breath as they looked at the Medabot powering itself - their life's work hung in the balance.

Then, blue optics shuttered on. It stared at the group uncomprehendingly and just as quickly faded out, ignoring everyone's groans of disappointment.

"After all that work..." One technician complained and shook her head in despair.

"It's perfectly fine," Isis murmured.

The female technician looked at the lead scientist with surprise, "you mean all that progress wasn't a waste, ma'am?"

"The Medabot will be fine. I just need to reboot him-"

"'Him?'"

"It - if you insist on being technically correct," Isis replied dismissively. "I just need to keep working on it, we all figured it wouldn't work on the first try anyway."

She turned toward the main group, "congratulations. We just attempted the impossible and will go down in history for it. The research and progress will be invaluable towards this field. We should look forward at what's to come - who knows what else we'll be capable of, "Isis paused, then added as an afterthought, "you are all dismissed until further notice."

When the last of the personnel streamed out, Isis walked over to the tube and gazed at the Medabot. Something deep inside her was stirring - perhaps a part of her that used to be a decent person.

 _'It was all for scientific progress, I'm not malicious - the boy will be alright eventually...'_ Isis felt a sort of prickling in her heart.

She shook her head out in an attempt to clear it. "I need to get out of here more often..."

The odd feelings started to ebb, which relieved her greatly. It was odd.

She hadn't felt _guilt_ like that for a long time.

* * *

_Ikki furrowed his brow and slowly stirred to the sound of crashing waves._

_H_ _e hesitantly opened his eyes and blinked blearily. The sky was a brilliant smattering of stars with a nebula hanging in the background. Ikki could smell salt in the air._

_He widened his eyes and sat up quickly, groaning as the sudden movement made his head hurt. He sat still for a moment as a thought immediately hit him._

_Was he dead?_

_It would certainly explain the scene. "So this is the afterlife? Where's everyone else? This is gonna get really boring if I'm the only one here!" Ikki lamented._ _Agitated, he stared at the uncharted ocean, its lull eventually soothing his nerves._

_"Enjoying your stay, so far?"_

_Ikki didn't flinch in surprise, but answered sullenly, "can't say that I am."_

_He looked behind him and his face contorted into a perplexed look, "By the way, who're you, again?" Now this was strange, there were certain aspects of the cloaked figure that seemed overwhelmingly familiar, yet almost alien._

_The man said nothing but came forward and bent down to Ikki, touching his forehead with his hand. All the memories came back within seconds and Ikki's eyes cleared with recognition and understanding._

_"So you're the guy who gave that weird warning? Well, what am I doing here? Am I dead or something?" The man held up a hand and effectively silenced Ikki._

_"All will be answered in due time. But, if you want the answer to your last question, then I'll give it to you: your life is hanging by a thread. If your rescuer doesn't fulfill his task, only then will_ **_you_** _cease to exist."_

_"So I failed, then. I couldn't get out and now someone will have to rescue me. Who is it? Metabee?"_

_The figure shook his head, "no. It will be someone else. Your influence has marked him very heavily, my boy."_

_"Really? ...I'm not that popular," Ikki replied, rubbing his neck._

_"Come. I have something to show you," the figure immediately walked off into the undergrowth and Ikki knew he would be left behind if he didn't make an effort to catch up._

_Ikki wondered if he was on some sort of island. However, before he had time to think about it further, he felt sharp pain lace through his foot. He jumped up, swallowing back curses, and hopped on one foot._

_When the pain faded, Ikki looked down and saw an aged stone step he stubbed his foot on._

_He scratched his head with confusion; he didn't think there was anyone else inhabiting the island. Suddenly, he straightened up and ran into the bushes, knowing the man was leaving him behind, "hey! Wait for me!"_

* * *

 

_After taking several wrong turns and backtracking, Ikki finally stumbled into what appeared to look like ruins. Or what was left of it. The man silently stood over a pool of still water._

_Ikki glanced around as he entered the area._

_Tufts of grass grew in the corners of broken walls. There was no ceiling so Ikki could see the dark sky perfectly. Moss covered what was left of the ruins. The moon was full and its light casted shadows around the shattered stones._

_Fireflies flew about, their lights dancing and bobbing as they went. In Ikki's perspective, they almost looked like floating lanterns. The entire scene was beautiful, even he could admit._

_The figure didn't turn around, even though it was clear he knew Ikki was there, "you have arrived at last."_

_"No thanks to you," Ikki retorted._

_The man ignored Ikki's jibe and said, "come and look in the pool. I'm sure you'll find this most interesting."_

_Ikki shuffled forward and knelt before the clear pool. "Uh, not to ruin the mystical silence or anything, but isn't it impossible for bodies of water to be completely still? I'm no genius, but I'm pretty sure this is defying some law of physics."_

_"Look into the pool, Ikki," the man insisted softly._

_The boy complied and leaned over. At first, he only saw his reflection staring back at him. Ikki could only say he was surprised at how dirty and scuffed up he looked._ _The man touched the water and a single ripple gently moved across the surface._

_Ikki jumped back in surprise, "the water, it's... glowing?"_

_Indeed, the pool glowed softly, its hue brightening the surroundings including Ikki and his companion. The glow died down and revealed an image. Ikki did a double take when he recognized what he was seeing._

_"Metabee!" The pool showed only the Medabot walking in a random direction, Ikki couldn't see the background beyond. "He can't hear me at all, can he?"_

_"No, young one, he cannot. This pool is not natural, you see. Its abilities allow you to peek into the other realm, and watch the events in progress. Your friend is looking for you, is he not?" The man asked._

_"Well, I guess..." Ikki trailed off, suddenly not knowing what to say._

_"Do not worry, this realm will keep you safe for as long as you remain here."_

_"So basically I'm sitting in the sidelines hoping my team would win against whatever bad guy is behind this?" Ikki stood up abruptly, the pool forgotten. "_ _That stinks! I'm not some stupid damsel! I'm a Medafighter and a darn good one!"_

_Ikki's irritation and anger resounded around the area, growing quiet when the man didn't answer._

_Finally he said, "Ikki, don't be afraid to place your trust in others."_

_"Oh? This is what it's all about?_ Trust? _Well, guess what? I didn't learn a stupid thing! Is this the part where you show me the door out of this nightmare?" Ikki raged, "I never asked to be kidnapped and experimented on in the first place! All I wanted to do was to have some fun!"_

_The man shook his head sadly, " I cannot provide a way out for you however much I want to; this is the fate Destiny has laid out for you."_

_Ikki sat down abruptly, put his chin on his knees, and looked at the stars in the now dark sky. He angrily wiped at his eyes, "what is this place? What's your name? You owe me that much."_

_"Very well; this place you are staying at is a sort of dream-state. It has no name."_

_"And what's your name?"_

_"I would prefer not to give my real name, but I think Lucien will suit me for now."_


	9. The Living Weapon

_The robot could feel nothing._

_How could it? There was nothing to feel in such a dark void. The only thing to do was sleep for eternity._

_However, a speck of light slowly roused the being. The light grew bigger and bigger until it was impossible to miss. What a bothersome thing..._

_It stirred and woke up for the first time. It saw other beings who watched his every move. It saw colors - or a few bland ones, per se._

_Although, it couldn't stand the discomfort of being stared at by... what were these beings? They seemed intelligent - they surely wouldn't harm it, would they?_

_Before it could do anything, everything vanished into darkness and the robot felt surprise and a touch of loneliness. The only thing it could do in the darkness was reminiscence about another life that it may or may not have had._

_Time seemed to go on forever before it saw another speck of light, but something was different about this one: it was warm and inviting. The light beckoned the soul and it obeyed. T_ _he light glowed before swirling and changing shape into that of a shimmering figure of a elderly man._

_"I see you have no name. Shake off your surprise and tell me, what do you remember?"_

_The Medabot thought it was a rather odd question and pondered for a bit. "I...suppose I remember those beings that look like you," it answered, static covering most of its words._

_"Good. You are learning rapidly. There is no doubt about the path you will take when you awaken again. Unfortunately, this path is filled with trials and tribulations you will have to overcome. I can promise that it won't be easy," Lucien said._

_A...path?" It asked, confused._

_The man nodded, "yes, but don't worry, already I can sense a spark within you - a fighting spirit. You would do well to nurture it and let it grow."_

_He then turned his back to the fledgling soul, "...I hope you will eventually forgive me..."_

_"What are you-?"_

* * *

 

The room was still before the rebooting of a machine pierced the thick silence.

Fingers twitched once before slowly closing into a fist. Its sapphire optics lit up brightly and looked slowly around the darkened room. It couldn't tell what time it was.

A burst of information suddenly loaded onto its HUD telling it the time, date, and other relevant information.

It touched the smooth glass that made up the tube and shook off the cables and wires attached to its Medal before closing the hatch. It brainstormed on different ways of escaping before it chose an option. It was a crude one and more than likely to raise an alarm, but it would e able to get out.

It aimed at a specific point in the glass before ramming it through with its shoulder. It watched the clear shards and pieces rain down upon the floor. An alarm sounded as the robot made its way out of the broken tube, avoiding the jagged sections of glass.

It growled in frustration when the alarm wouldn't stop blaring and red lights of the klaxon kept swirling.

Suddenly, people burst into the room - switching the lights on, talking hurriedly, and peering at the damage. Not one seemed to have seen the robot as it dashed into a corner and hid, all at once confused and threatened.

"What happened?" One woman, most likely in charge, asked. She glared furiously at the shattered tube. The alarm finally stopped its shrieking.

"I'm not exactly sure, ma'am. I'm not one for jumping to conclusions, but it looks like someone stole the Medabot." A young man replied and then winced when he realized he merely stated the obvious anyway.

"Get me the head of security, Ryu. I want him to review the tapes and find out who's responsible for this," Isis commanded tersely.

"Yes, ma'am."

Stressed, she put her fingers on her forehead and paced as workers conversed among themselves. The beginnings of a headache began to work its way throughout her skull, "God, this can't be happening right now..."

Isis examined the tube; she noted that the pieces of glass were mostly on the outside of the tube and not the other way around... Was it possible? She rolled her neck to loosen it up when she spotted something out of the corner of her eye.

"What in the world?" She murmured as she looked closely and saw a blue glow.

Isis moved some of the equipment and discovered the "stolen" Medabot, looking at her with a faint sheepish expression. Isis sighed, "one of you, grab Ryu before there's even more commotion; the Medabot's right here."

While one of the men ran off, the rest crowded around Isis to get a look at the robot, who was bristling with discomfort. If she didn't know any better, she would swear it looked tempted to turn its weapons on the team.

"What's it doing over there?"

"Hey! I can't see!"

"Did it break out by itself?"

"Just one night and it's already trying to move about? Color me impressed..."

The Medabot tuned out their comments and conversations and looked for a way through the onlookers. "All right. Most of you can stop gawking and go to your rooms; you'll see it in the morning. A couple of you can help me clean this mess up," Isis shooed her workers away.

The ones designated for clean up groaned while the rest of the people quickly filed out of the lab.

Isis kept an eye on the Medabot as she keyed commands into a watch. She immediately heard a crash and quickly looked up. The source of the crash had fallen in a heap, a blank space where the optics were supposed to be.

The Medal laid on the ground next to the body.

* * *

Ex grumbled and yawned as he slipped out of his bed, rubbing his eyes. The alarm had stopped a short while ago, but not before it woke him up and deprived him of any chance of further sleep.

He looked at his watch: **04** **:30.**

Ex sighed. He knew if this had anything to do with Isis' work (which it most likely did), then Isis wouldn't want to see his face in the lab. But he was awake, and he might as well find out what happened since he was going to get bored doing anything otherwise.

It took a few minutes to find the lab. Once he entered, he immediately saw several people cleaning up bits and pieces of sharp glass and talking amongst themselves. He saw Isis working on a metal body - her project, he presumed - and sauntered over towards her, smirking, "so, I'm guessing your project was a success."

To his surprise, Isis did not snap or ignore him, "why, yes, but it still needs further testing before it's ready to be recruited." She totally missed it.

"Recruited? Don't tell me we wasted all that time and money to create a Medabot just to recruit it into the ranks? We could've just bought any old hunk of junk and conditioned it to be a good soldier," Ex hissed.

"It's not like that. I suppose I could've used different wording. It'll be our ultimate weapon - a trump card of sorts," Isis said.

"It's _that_ powerful?" Ex stared at her in disbelief, "I suppose you're not going to tell me what exactly it will do, besides what little tidbits of information the boss _generously_ gives out?"

"I have no clue. Whatever plan he's brewing he's keeping it to himself. I suppose that will control any leaks."

Silence reigned for a few moments before Ex broke it. "So, what are you going to name that thing?" He asked.

"I'm not naming it - Shadow is. I don't see what's the big deal, but apparently, he wants to name it something specific." Isis swiped a blonde lock of hair out of her eyes, "that would make it unique, I guess. All of the other Medabots either had us name it or their names came with them."

"Oh," was all Ex could say.

"So, what did you want?" Isis asked briskly.

"That alarm nearly made me suffer a heart attack. Couldn't go back to sleep."

"Poor baby," Isis muttered.

Ex threw her a dark look, "nice to know I can count on you when I randomly start dying."

"Sorry," Isis particularly wasn't.

"Anyway, mind telling me what triggered it?"

"This guy right here."

Ex did a double take. "That abomination actually woke up? I thought implanting memories would corrupt its CPU and other weird techno stuff," he glanced up, " not that I _doubted_ your genius."

"I couldn't help but think that too, but apparently not," Isis replied, brushing off his comment.

"...So, how's the kid? He still alive or do I have to start digging?"

Isis stopped working and looked at him intently. "Why the sudden concern? Correct me if I'm wrong, but I heard you didn't exactly care for him."

"I don't," Ex replied in a flat tone, "is curiosity a crime now?"

"...Well, last I heard is that he slipped into a coma and isn't recovering well," Isis answered. She wasn't sure what Ex needed to get out of this conversation, but she didn't necessarily care.

"Why so much trauma to his body if it was a simple head scan?"

"It wasn't just a 'simple head scan', Ex - the science is still way too new to gauge its effects on the human body. This is the copying of entire memories we're talking about! We could only implant a select few inside the Medabot due to there being so much information that the Medabot would just crash after a few minutes from overload. The technology today allowed us to turn the brainwaves into pieces of data and codes. With these codes, we can write them into the Medabot's CPU and it would subconsciously read the code when choosing to remember something."

Isis could see she had lost him after the second sentence and sighed.

"Isis? I can only understand so much theoretical physics," Ex commented, throwing his hands in the air with exasperation.

"This _isn't_ theoretical physics - what is wrong with you?" Isis retorted, then said, "in layman's terms: we implanted a few memories into the Medabot's, ah, brain. It's just some groundbreaking science I'm dabbling in - not a big deal."

"...Nice..."

Isis shot him a look, "you're not dumb, Ex. Try harder to understand next time."

"...I believe that was the closest thing to a compliment I've ever heard from you, Isis," Ex sounded genuinely surprised.

"That's quite sad."

Ex shrugged and leaned against the wall, watching Isis fiddle with different circuits and parts, "how long until you report to the boss about this?"

Isis held back a shudder, "probably later in the morning. Though, I'd be lying if I said I looked forward to it; he gives me the creeps."

"You wouldn't be human if Shadow didn't give you the creeps."

"Tell me about it," Isis agreed. "Anything else? If not, then I'm sure you have better things to do with your time."

Ex feigned a hurt look, "here I thought you were enjoying my company."

Isis rolled her eyes, "get yourself some breakfast if you know what's good for you."

"Was that a veiled threat?"

"Interpret it however you want."

Ex made a carefree (not disrespectful - he suffered a bleeding nose last time) gesture over his shoulder as he exited the lab, then stopped and turned around. "Eh, Isis? This is kind of embarrassing, but have you seen my phone anywhere?"

"I don't look after your things, Ex. Have you tried calling it?"

"It would be dead by now. My battery is a piece of junk."

"If the clean-up crew got rid of it, there's nothing I can do for you other than suggest you get a new phone."

"That's a pain to go through getting issued a new one."

"You lost it, you suffer the consequences... You didn't lose it _outside,_ did you?"

Ex rubbed the back of his neck and said nothing, looking everywhere except at Isis.

"Dammit, Ex!" Isis glared threateningly at the man.

"I'll take care of it! No need to get mad. It's probably around here somewhere," Ex finally left, running a hand through his tussled blond hair.

Isis felt at peace as she listened to her coworkers chat in the background. She closed the chest panel on the robot and grabbed a nearby sheet, throwing it on the metal body. 

"You boys can handle it here?" Isis called to the workers. They nodded. She hung her lab coat on a coat hanger and exited the room. What she wouldn't give for coffee, a dark room, and a comfortable bed right that moment.

* * *

 

This was Metabee's first complete night as a runaway. He, frankly, wasn't enjoying it too much. He wandered around in a daze; Ikki getting himself kidnapped was starting to sink in his processor.

He sat against a dirty wall in an trash-filled alley, one leg tucked against his chest and the other in front of him. Metabee kept his blaster ready; he wouldn't shoot to kill, but one never knew what idiot would try to steal a Medabot. Especially to get at his parts. Now _that_ was truly barbaric.

 _'Why?'_ He asked himself over and over again. What did those guys want with Ikki? That idiotic kid was a goofball (and close to useless) at best, and Metabee sometimes thought about ditching him one day.

Okay, maybe not.

Metabee watched as the night sky faded to a hint of gray and the few stars blinked out one by one. Slowly the gray turned into a combination of pale pink, red, and orange. He idly thought about visiting Henry to see if he found any information.

Then again, he was still trying to figure out what possessed him to give the cloth to the store clerk in the first place; it's not like Henry to actually know anything besides robattle tactics and different Medabot parts.

Still, there was no harm in asking, was there?

* * *

"How goes the search, Phantom?"

"Tiring."

"Is that so?"

"I only have guesses to where Ikki _could_ be. I haven't been able to visit many places recently because everyone _still_ thinks I'm public enemy number 1. There was a reason I skipped town few years back."

"Last time I checked, you blew up that museum just to take Medals. So, yes, you are _still_ public enemy number 1."

"...Darn it."

"Anyway, back to the subject, what was your theories?"

"Well, I found this leading into the remote area of the park," the masked man held up a silver cellphone that was covered with a little dust and grit. "I didn't see any tire tracks in the earth, which makes me believe the kidnapper carried him personally. He had to have some stamina to drag a kid for kilometers while staying out of sight."

"So, the suspect is big and athletic enough to move Ikki from place to place quickly - though Ikki should be rather light. Wouldn't be much of a stretch for this guy to carry him for several kilometers... Did you try getting into the cellphone?"

"No. I didn't try charging it yet... and I'm betting you this has a password on it," The figure carelessly tossed the cellphone up and down.

"That never stopped you."

"You're right - it won't."

A sigh, "just continue doing what you're doing."

"I also have _this_ ," The man held a white cloth. "This guy must be clumsy with possibly incriminating evidence. The cloth was soaked with chloroform when Metabee gave it to me."

The elder man took the cloth from the Phantom Renegade, "I'll keep it here for now. I'll leave the cellphone with you; you can try to break into it on your spare time."

The masked man nodded, "but one more thing, Dr. Aki."

"Yeah?"

"I'll need a bunch of explosives."

"...What for?" He asked warily.

"Once I find this group - I'm sure it's a group or a criminal organization we need to look for - I'm making sure they're going out with a bang!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't know if I like my re-editing result, but I it'll do until I come up with something better.
> 
> Made up science is best science, no? /s
> 
> Anyway, hoped you enjoyed reading! Leave a comment if you desire.
> 
> -Winterbornbree


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